Without making any comment on the depth of the characters, are there any racial/gender combos that are more sexualized than Asian women and Black men?

I didn't watch the episode, but it was kinda been there done that because my sister who is Indian married a man who is African American and a doctor (still in med school).And yes, the dearth of Asian characters on Network or cable channels is depressing.

I think this (these 'couple' representationss on TV) are a severe case of art NOT imitating life.If you glance about in the real world you would probably see that the overwhelming majority of Asian women\non-Asian men couples are with White men (95%+). This is especially true for East Asian women. I think the point raised by Seng is worth considering. Asian women are (supposedly) the 'ideal' feminine/sexual model and Black men are (supposedly) the 'benchmark' of male sexual prowess. Thus the images presented show the alleged 'super sex' pairing. But that does not appear to be the pairing practice in reality.Do you think these cross-racial pairings on TV will improve or damage Asian\Black relations? I've got to note that Ming Na's relationship ends badly and the baby has to be 'sent away' (get rid of the evidence!)and that Dr. Pratt is the more 'street' of the Black doctor characters. Reinforcing 'stereotypes'?Why Black males given all the hue and cry about White men/Asian women pairings? (Which are the statistical 'norm') Maybe the writers figured they would 'catch less grief' with that arrangement and it would better hide the paucity of Asian males. Maybe it is intended to re-direct any 'anger' on 'stealing the womenfolk' towards Black males. (Look! It isn't us, its those BLACK guys AGAIN!) Its not like the 'when in doubt, blame a Black guy' strategy hasn't been tried before!On the 'Masala' situation, that is much more common. Think of the large South Asian populations in the Caribbean. It is far less 'visually shocking', but it could be said to cast a negative light on Black women.

In the Bay Area, it's not uncommon to see black/asian pairings. I think it's great that people of color are getting together (in real life and on TV).But the question raised is a good one.Grey's Anatomy is set in Seattle. And there are very few Latinos and blacks there. Let's say Dr. Burke is making a choice to date people of color. That narrows down the women he's going to meet. That's one "real word" explanation (though I doubt it's the backstory.) What's up with ER then? Chicago has a pretty diverse population.I don't know how Dr. Chen or Neela were portrayed on ER (don't get that channel), but I think the way Dr. Burke and Cristina get together supports Seng's coments.The first time Dr. Burke and Cristina are romantic, they just get right to it. In the hospital. They just go in a room, shut the door and just start ripping each other's clothes off. They just can't resist each other! No date-asking, no talking, just sex! At work! Couldn't even wait til they got off work could they? Isn't this very odd for Cristina, who behaves for the most part as very level-headed, work-obsessed, and unfeeling? Dr. Burke too, he comes across as very calm and professional. Apparently when they're near each other their loins just stir with passion and their animal-esque instincts take over.Granted, other people get it on in the hospital too. Maybe it's just the hospital.I wonder what the writers of these shows have to say. Not only do you not see the Asian women dating other kinds of guys. The black men either date black or Asian. Never white? Latina? Maybe it's easier to "steal" an Asian woman than a white woman or a Latina (since their men are all supposidly machismo). Especially since there ARE no Asian guys around.Or maybe these characters just happen to love each other very much and we should all shut up.

If you do not believe romance can come in many exciting combos, then you haven't lived long enough. Love is cool wherever it happens. Except that love doesn't really happen when you are glued to the TV (or the internet, I should save my preaching for myself).I would agree that the broadcasters are studying their audience with great interest and that someone is trying to influence you every minute you spend watching TV. What they are selling are illusions. Of every sort. Tune in, turn the hell off, wake the hell up.

In the case of the black male characters it tends to come down to the fact that the producers eventually have to hook them up romantically. If the show is a "mainstream" show (mostly white characters) the "token black guy" by definition is typically the only black character that's part of the cast. So unless the producers want to bring in a recurring black female character to play his love interest or spouse, they are left with having to pair the character with a woman outside his race. And despite evidence here and there to the contrary, Hollywood and America is still uncomfortable seeing a black male character involved with a white woman. So if that road isn't taken all "that's left" are the other minority females on the show, whether they be Hispanic/Latino or Asian.In movies this happens a lot because the studios sometimes don't want the perception of a film being a "black movie" so they may cast a non-black actress to star alongside Denzel Washington, Will Smith, etc (it happens in reverse too for Halle Berry when they are casting a love interest for her and don't want to go for a black guy). In cases like these the studios tend to lean towards using a Latina (think Eva Mendes) to play the romantic lead because women like that would be a less controversial selection than a white actress.On TV recently this same scenario plays out but for some reason you're just as likely to see an Asian woman paired with a black man as you are a Hispanic woman (or maybe its just because of the fact that shows taking place in hospitals are more likely to have Asian characters).To sum it up it comes down to this: for the most part TPTB are not really interested in the romance of a black couple and don't think their audience is that interested either. They are also for the most part still uneasy about what the reaction may be between a couple in which one is black and the other is white. So the compromise then is to hook up the lone black character with another minority character.

I live in Japan, Here there are a lot of Black and Asian Couples. Here its not uncommon to see many Blacks and Asians in pairs. Military ofcoures. Korea as well. Everyone around the world is so influenced by Black America some women are going agsinst the norm and dating who they want to date. I ve met many Asian women that said they dont like white guys. I havent been to America in about a 2 years. Oh, Eva Mendes and Jocelyn sanchez only date Black dudes. I think that is the reason shes in a lot of movies with Black men as her love interest. Like Bai Ling in her movie "The Breed" and a few others were she just get sexed by Black dudes and "Face", which I think is a great Asian Movie. I recommend that, If you havent seen it.

but we aren't talking about Asia. The shows are set in America. I think that much of what Nate said is on point. Pairing up the asian women with black men is less 'threatening' than pairing up white women with black men. setting up a funcitoning black\black relationship forces the writers to develop more characters, which gets awkward and is a lot of work. They already have their obligatory 'sassy black woman' (who is also heavy set, more stereotypes) - she runs the interns. Gray's Anatomy should be applauded for having a white woman bed a south asian guy - of course, she has since been lableled a slut and she doesn't intened to carry the relationship further. the black/asian pairings let the producers feel liberal without subjecting them to the hate mail they would get or the ratings drop-off they would suffer if they did it any other way. sort of 'country club' revolutionaries.

I see, Over here in Asia im in a whole different world. I guess im going to have to order some of these seasons. I dont look at American TV to much. Its here, but Asian culture overseas is not Americanized and is open to choose what they like. Well at least the young Generation. Im behind on American Primteime. The last show that had a steady Asian Black/Asian couple was this show called Night Court

not to 'bang' on you, but it would seem pretty obvious that blacks in Asia would tend to be married to asians if they hadn't brought their S.O. with them. sort of a 'fish where the fish are' scenario. to the extent that natives of asia have not been 'pre-conditioned' to reject blacks without first getting to know them is good. i suspect that a bit of that is the 'lure of the exotic' - not unlike the 'love affair' of europeans with american blacks in the 30s thru 50s (which diminished significantly when african blacks began to immigrate in greater numbers to europe in the 70s, 80s, and 90s) or the 'lure of the exotic' that is often cited as the the root source of 'yellow fever' here amongst the 'grey boys.

That is not exactly true, there is a big Military population were I live and you do not necesarily have to date Asians. Theres also a big African, European, Russian, and Spanish population here as well. Its not America here, but a nice multitude of people and a lot of these Asian girls have thier fetishes. Im not saying its a big minority group here to start a Community like America, but you can sense a nice amount of foriegnors here. Excuse my spelling

OK OK OK, 'dude', try to look at this thru a lense larger than your own personal experience. [The same advice holds true for viewing this issue beyond the confines of a singular geographic region of the US.] There might be a 'large' non-Asian population at the military base, but how large is it really? 20,000? 40,000? Compared to how many millions of Japanese??? now, if we ASSUME a 50/50 male\female split (not likely, but...) and we assume that ALL of the women are 'available' and we even inflate the total population to 50,000 women; the end result is that only 5% of the available 'women-folk' are non-Asian if we assume a maximum population of only 1 million available Japanese women. This is OBVIOUSLY a very LOW COUNT of Japanese women, so chances are that the 5% number is WAY high.That said, the television programs being discussed are set in the US, not Asia and not Japan. In the US, when asian women (including Japanese) marry non-Asian men, the overwhelming majority of them (in excess of 98%) marry white men, YET the television programs in question DO NOT reflect this reality and, it could be argued, present an extremely incorrect version of what is actually happening when they show almost exclusively asian woman\black male pairings. (sort of Superman's Bizarro world of dating). This begs the question "What's up with that?" What is the motivation for art so drastically NOT imitating life?Anna, this question could be posed to you as well. I mena, irrespective of the local conditions of the Bay area, the statistics would stand decididely AGAINST the portrayals on TV in Gray's Anatomy and ER. Any theories as to why that is?Oh, the 'characters' don't 'love each other' without the writers deciding that they love each other, so the question(s) remains. Why write sometihg that so 'goes against the grain' of the society we live in? Here's a theory - the writers want the show to be 'edgy' and white guys with asian women aren't 'edgy'; nor are black guys with black women and to add either black women or asian men characters is too much work.

I see what you are sayin, I havent been to America in a while. I hear a lot of the Black American culture is influencing the Asian youth over there. Well not just there everywhere. Ive seen that first hand from my many travels throughout the Pacific. Not only that, but I chat with quite a few on sites snd e-mails. I mean i read Oliver Wang articles daily. I guess the point im trying to make is I think things are changing and maybe TV is changing with the times. That could be a legitimate arguement as well.

If the writers/producers of these shows wanted to reflect any modicum of reality, the Asian women should hook up with white or Asian males in greater proportions. In reality, there simply aren't that many blacks in medical school compared to whites or Asians. For all these Asian women to happen to hook with only black MD's seems to strain reality. Just like the above posts mentioned, I suspect these pairings make the shows "hip" without freaking out white mainstream America.

I guess im looking at it from a hip point of View, Tiger Woods and Hines Wards probably are the two most popular mixed Asians at the moment, along with the pop star Amerie. Pharrell and Foxy Brown, just to name a few more. That is reality and not TV. I dont get mixed up in stats because I feel they are not always accurate, but honostly I see a changing trend in America.

If you shoot to go mainstream you will lose your true audience, Mainstream america is not where its at.

There is certainly a more robust embrace of 'asian-ness' (smelling a new market?). So in that sense, there is change afoot in the USA. Asians are no longer being ignored. Now the question is who is 'spotlighted' and why and how. The TV issue is NOT that the characters are doctors (if it were, then an initial question would be why are doctors, lawyers and cops so over-represented in entertainment media relative to their actual numbers in the population); it IS that the pairings are NOT what occurs in society irrespective of profession.as for Hines Ward, Tiger Woods and the like, even if they say or acknowledge otherwise, they are largely 'identified' or socially catagorized as 'black'. apply "the 'bama State Trooper at midnight test" - if pulled over and yanked out of the car, would he or she be called 'ni****' or 'g***'? (my apologies to 'bama Troopers) a recent letter to the editor in KoreAm blasted the mag for featuring Hines Ward because the writer did not feel that Ward 'identifies' as Korean as much as he does Black. A follow-up question might be which community was more welcoming to Ward when he was younger (and not famnous or rich)? That'll set his socialization.So, back to the issue, it seems odd that these TV programs are not presenting 'societal pairings' as they really occur, but in a decidely different light. I am sure that the respective creative teams will say that it was just how the show developed and there is no 'plan'. Now this may just be happenstance but it is a strange coincidence that so many 'stumble' into the same 'brainstorm'. What does that say about subtle presuppositions that people carry into such situations which manifests itself in their creative output. They don't even realize they are doing it - like suddenly speaking louder to someone that doesn't speak English assuming this will help.

I guess the question is whats fiction and reality . I guess from a Hospital point of view it would some would favor your view, but be advised the the number one, or most talented neurosurgeon in America at this time is African American, but main stream America doesnt want to concentrate on that story. The rapper Jin(Chinese) made a song about his High School experience. the song was about his first love, a black girl on his Learn Chinese CD. So Hines Ward, Jin, Amerie, Toshi Kabuta, the dude with the Gorrillaz, Tiger Woods all have a stories to be told, just like the Dean Cains, and Kristy Krueks Who are Half White and Asian are some what more praised by he Mainstream. If you are Black American you are taught to go against mainstream and be different dont fall into the trap, which is why I think pop-culture around the world mainly does come out the Black American Community. So what is real and fake on TV. Dont base everyrhing on one TV show. There is a Black DR in Seatle and there are Black people there. I was Stationed there. We know there is a large Asian pop there, so it couild happen.

there are plenty of individual stories which can offer an alternative to the overwhelming statistics of the 'real world' but those statistics are what they are because they are...OVERWHELMING. so, unless you are refuting the statistics with new data, the one-off story that contradicts is merely an anecdote.the fact that there is a Black neurosurgeon of national prominence does not negate the fact that in TV-land, there are far more doctors, lawyers and cops (as a percentage of the population) than there are in REAL life. but that's not the real issue. the real issue is the depiction of relationship patterns.as an aside, i don't think that Black Americans are 'taught' to go against the mainstream, they are simply left out or overlooked so often that they have begun to expect to be excluded so make less effort to be included. this is highlighted by media and then becomes the 'expected behaviour' of Blacks by other groups and so if or when a Black person tries to go 'mainstream' his or her 'legitmacy' as Black is questioned. but we are far afield here. the fact that you 'think' of Blacks as 'outside the mainstream' when the overwhelming majority of Black people go about their day working, paying bills and taxes, raising their kids, etc, etc just like everyone else in the 'mainstream' kind of proves the point. i think that pop/youth culture often sets itself in opposititon to the norms established by previous generations, so the embrace of SOME aspects of Black culture (not ALL Black people like rap and basketball) is a way of 'poking the status quo in the eye'. The benefit that these 'adopters' have is that they can, at some point, chose to switch sides and move back into the status quo. not so easy for those that don't 'look the part' - especially if you are considered outside the mainstream even when you are standing in it.the issue posed is why would entertainment media chose to represent these couples in pairings that are not reflective of the real world? not that they (black male/asian female) pairings NEVER happen in the real world, but that they happen far less often than asian male/asian female and white male/asian female couples.why not 'represent' asian females in media in the types of relationships that happen most often in reality?in fiction and reality, whites are most often paired with whites and blacks are most often paired with blacks. but in TV land, asian women (when in a significant role) are NOT with asian men NOR with white men which is the 'reality of the situation'.is there a double standard at work here?what message is it sending about asian women?about asian men?i don't think it is a 'concious' effort (wringing grubby little hands in smoke filled rooms at midnight) but a sub-concious presupposition about the 'way things should look' borne out of ignorance of the reality of the marginalized groups' lives.do you see the point?

Black Americans are not looking for an identity, We have plenty of that and mainstream America sucks, weve Known that for years, originate, not imitate.When I say maimstram America im talking from WILL SMITH to to who ever. My wife is Japanese, im Black. Most of my friends are married to Japanese and they are Black. Many of them have left Japan and moved to the States. So your point is not well taken. I see where you are comming from. You like stats, well I dont look at stats. I look at reality. The truth is most Asian Woman pefer their own Asian Men. My Sister-In-Law hates American Movies, especially when they exploit Asian culture. A beautiful Asian women and the white savior that gets the kiss at the end. She feels those roles should be played by Asian men. That is here her thinking, not mine. Im not Asian so Its not my place to say. This is just from the many conversations we have on a day to day. So why dont they ever pair Asian Women up with Asian men. The reason why, MAINSTREAM. The point im making is TV is not reality from no side of the table.

no offense, but you've got to work on those comprehension reading skills. Nobody said that Black people are 'looking for indentity'.First, on your many Black friends that are married to Japanese - you are in Japan, or were via the military correct?? SO it stands to reason that many of them are married to Japanese. Fish where the fish are.second, you are correct - MOST Asian women ARE married to Asian men - both in the US and in Asia. In the US, the second highest 'group' that Asian women are married to are White men. Now this may be quantified and represented statistically, which you hate, but that is because the quantities (numbers) are taken from REALITY. REAL people married to other REAL people.So third, you actually hit my point dead on!!! TV is SHOWING a relationship pattern that is NOT REALITY!!!! Asian women (as seen on TV in recurring roles, with the exception of "Lost" and even that hinted at a budding 'relationship' between the Black guy and the Asian woman for minute) are NOT shown "hooked up with" to ASIAN men or even white men which is in stark contrast to REALITY. (another thought occurs to me - none of these couples are married, just 'hooked up' - does that say something about Black men?)But FOURTH, IF the driver for TV\Entertainment is 'mainstream' then why do they represent Asian women as marrying\dating people who are NOT in that very same 'mainstream'? (Black)Why not more (maintstream) white guys - which they have done repeatedly in the movies?Why is it OK for movies but NOT for TV??Or is this all just a wild coincidence that doesn't deserve this much thought?it might be good to hear from some asian women on this.

In my opinion TV does reflect the stats. How many TV Shows and movies do you see Whites/Asian couples pairing up as luv interest. Nearly all of them. You have 1, or 2 TV shows with a Black/Asian and you want to throw in stats. I think it is about right. There are more Asian/Black couples out there than you think, as Black Professionals. I see changing times in America. Have you seen Dave Chappelles wife and ofcourse Russell Simmons Wife, Kimora Lee should be convincing. I have a lot of Asian women that can answer this question for you, but I guess the problem is none of them grew up in America. My Sister-In-Law stayed there for a year, but I dont see you agreeing with her either. I know the stats. I dont think I hate the fact that there are more Asians married to whites, I think you hate the fact that you are not being worshipped like always on public TV. All im saying is it could happen. Ive been to every Asian country in the world, more than once. So its all a matter of who you talk to.

Ummm..actually the whole discussion started out of the fact that you DON'T see Whites and Asian 'hooking up' on TV in the USA in a fashion representative to what you see in the real world (limited to the USA).The stats I 'threw in' aren't generated by couples shown on TV or movies, but actual people married to actual people in the USA. (NOT Asia!!) Once again, it is always easy to find an 'exception' (Simmons, Chappelle) BUT the statistics are what they are and DON'T support the Simmons/Chappelle situations as the norm. There may be 'couples' but these couples would appear to be 1) refusing to be cited in statistics OR 2) they do not progress on to get married. It is not a matter of 'opinion'.You have reinforced the observation (again) by referencing your Asian female friends who are NOT in or from the USA. I don't know who your sister-in-law is married to. If he is Asian, that reinforces the observation and the statistical data yet again. Asian women are MOST likely to marry Asian men first, and white men second by a large percentage. Yet this is not the representation shown on commercial TV.As for your mention that you don't 'hate' the fact that there are "more Asians married to whites" - I don't know what you might 'hate' that more than - what's your comparative alternate?MOST Asian women are married to Asian men - hands down. Which seems entirely logical to me. This does not negate the fact that SOME Asian women are not married to Asian men, but MOST are, even in the USA.As for 'me' being 'worshipped' on public TV, I don't know what you mean - but it would seem that you have made some assumption about what I 'am' and what I would 'like' to see in either the media or in real life. Maybe I like the current misrepresentation, but still wonder why it occurs.Once again, the discussion focused on how things are 'shown' in the USA on US TV shows, not in Asian countries, so you must adjust your frame of reference to limit it to that field.Real Simple: TV shows IN THE USA do not seem to show Asian women in romantic arrangements in a manner that matches the predominant reality of USA society.Irrespective of opinions on whether or not this representation\reality mismatch is 'good' or 'bad', why do you think that is the case?My 'you' is posed to a collective you - observers of the American media 'scene'.To be honest, the issue doesn't really intrigue me as much as this apparent trouble with following a rational logic stream. I've seen this problem coming up more and more lately and it disturbs me that people are so easily thrown off of a rational thought path by one or two anomolies. This is a techinque used by propagandists to sway populations to 'believe' what are demonstrably 'false' ideas (i.e. Iraq had 'weapons of mass destruction' and was in cahoots with al-Qaeda so that's why we attacked them).You have nice day!

I think you are right, and wrong. Lets play a game. Try to visualize what im trying to do. Lets say there are 10 TV shows of Asians and mixed couples. 8 of the shows would be Asian Women and White men, One of them Asian/Black and One Asian/Asian. Where I think TV falls short of is they hardly show Asian/Asian couples. Thats a gap that needs to be filled. Ive been living Overseas for 4 Years and Ocassionally, I will look at American TV. I dont think much has changed. Still White men are always represented with who, or what ever Minority of all kinds. So when you say TV isnt portraying stats, where are you comming from? Im not mad about what goes on American, really, I kind of dont care, I luv it over here, Dont want to move back. So what goes on in my Country of birth will not apply to me either way. Im looking at this arguement from all sides of the table, not just one. I think there should be more shows of Asian/Asian relationships on TV. Not just Biracial, but the impression I get from you is that all TV shows of mixed with asians should be White/Asian only. So that would justify stats right. Lost, and Greys Anatomy are just 2 shows, out of many

I remember reading about how the Mike (the black guy) on Lost was supposed to be paired with Sun (the korean girl) on Lost. I think this was already writtened in the show but then got takened out. I am sure Daniel Dae kim and Yungjin kim and I believe there's a korean writer on the show had a lot to do with preventing this from happening.

Ive seen that show Lost, like a couple of times. I hear its the number one show in America at the moment. I didnt find it all that exciting.

Anonymous, your scenario is an interesting game, but the point raised is this:There are 2 or 3 shows on TV (prime time, commercial network stuff - not cable) that show Asian woman\'other' man relationships. (Lost, Grey's Anatomy and ER are all that i know of - totalling 4 relationships on 3 shows - 2 on ER. if someone has more in a recurring role where the character's relationship is key, please advise).Thus 3 of 4 asian female/ 'x' male relationships are asian/black and one asian/asian. So the asian/asian relationship is a minority and NONE of them show Asian woman/White man relationships. These, however ARE the overwhelming MAJORITY of the circumstances that describe asian woman\'any' man relationships in the USA.So my question was (and still is) why are the relationships shown on TV (limited as it may be) so FAR from the statistical norm? What's up with that?By the way, TV does not 'validate' or support statistics taken from real life.TV is imaginary - even reality TV is imaginary. Hell, even News is sometimes imaginary - see Weapons of Mass Destruction again.I have no particular 'preference' for any specific 'representation' (well, none that is germane to this dialogue) but in this instance art is NOT imitating life. Ain't that peculiar? (as Marvin Gaye would say).Oh... I am 'coming from' living in America. I only wished to have the observation addressed, not try to 'look downfield' at where I am 'going' with my observation. I would 'go' where the discussion takes it. There is no hidden agenda or 'gotcha' moment in the offing.TK, thanks for the little insider info on LOST. I thought I 'read' the groove right as I was watching it. If that had happened, then we would have 4 for 4. Coincidence???Anonymous, the fact that you don't find LOST interesting is immaterial to the discussion. It is a good show, but it requires regular watching to hold your interest. Seeing snippets will only confuse you.

Well I guess you better developed an imaginery mind set for Television. Maybe TV is not so bad, he he he. Any hoot everyone loves a fairytale, but my point is there is some truth to all this relating to mixed couples abroad. I stated it in some earlier comments. You should order this movie called "Face" written by a Chinese American Film Director. It won a lot of Awards at the Sundance and Cannes film festival, starring Kristi Wu, Bai Ling and Treach, It reminded me of me of my wife when we startd dating. check it out then maybe you will see where im comming from. It was my real reality, You can order it off amazon.com. If its not at Hollywood Video, or what ever the main place for movie rentals in America is. Its time for me to take my family to the states and see what im so uninformed on. See America and some fictional American TV in Sep and maybe we will come to an agreement he he he. good day